Maryland lawmaker calls out illegal slots rooms

Del. Pat McDonough says rooms passed off as Internet cafes

A Maryland legislator is speaking out Tuesday, saying "enough is enough" when it comes to so-called illegal slots rooms passing themselves off as Internet cafes.

Delegate Pat McDonough, R-Baltimore & Harford Counties, told 11 News the establishments are popping up all over the state despite the fact there is a law on the books making them illegal.

McDonough said the state is losing millions of dollars in tax revenue from these businesses.

"I'm here today to say, 'Governor and law officials get off of your butts and go to work,'" McDonough said.

McDonough voiced his frustration about places he called gambling stores that he said should be shut down.

"I think it's very dangerous because in my community they are reproducing like rabbits. It's like Dodge City on steroids for gambling," McDonough said.

To better investigate how they work, 11 News went to one off of Middle River Road in Essex, but 11 News cameras were not allowed and the owner refused to answer questions.

Basically, 11 News found that patrons could buy credits to use the Internet. Once seated at a computer terminal, they were given the chance to either use their credits to surf the Internet or use them to enter a free sweepstakes.

If the patron chooses the enter-a-free-sweepstakes option the terminal would turn into a video slot machine where the patron could gamble and then cash in the credits for cash, which 11 News witnessed.

"They're not different. It's the same result. You invest money and you get gain and it's a gamble," McDonough said.

McDonough said the machines are really no different than the video machines found in the state's casinos, but the operators are trying to use the Internet loophole, which he said was recently closed with the passing of Senate Bill 864. The bill partly defines a slot machine as a device that delivers a game through the Internet or offers Internet or other services.

Then there's the issue of money that not only is the state losing, he said, but honest businesses are losing as well.

"So none of this money, none of the revenue goes to the taxpayers, Gambler's Anonymous, it doesn't bring revenue to the state. It actually steals money from the state because many of them are located next to a legal lottery agency at a restaurant or a bar and they are losing money," McDonough said.

Recently in Baltimore City, police sent letters to similar businesses telling them they had until next Monday to shut down. However, an injunction was filed by one of the owners, who plans to have his day in court Thursday.

The state lottery commission seems to be the party that would enforce the rules in this case.

Officials with the lottery said they will be reviewing the law, but did not provide any further details.

A bizarre situation is unfolding in Baltimore in which people are paying rent to a landlord who claims he's helping fill the need for affordable housing, but there are serious questions about the living conditions inside, as well as who actually owns the homes.